The Town of Orange, CT went live with online permitting today just 90 days after kicking off the process-improvement initiative.

Town officials are energized with the rollout of a new experience for their constituents, saying the ability to apply online for building and fire permits will save time and money for applicants.

“[E-Permitting] makes the application process much easier for contractors and residents,” said Fire Marshall Tim Smith, who led the initiative in Orange.

Officials in Orange first began an the online permitting initiative in an effort to tie disparate departments together into a unified permitting process that was simpler for both applicants and employees. To meet that goal, town staff gathered early and often in roundtable meetings to define their specific needs and the path to success.

Using ViewPoint Cloud, they were able to translate those discussions into process improvements.

“By building our applications and workflows in the system, it gave us the opportunity to review our current applications and streamline them to fit the new system,” said Smith.

Town officials worked closely with ViewPoint to assess process improvements, integrate data from other town systems, train staff, and release a full online permitting experience in just 90 days.

“The hands-­on involvement of the Town staff, along with the outstanding support from the ViewPoint staff made the implementation process run quite smooth,” said Smith.

Over the next few months, town officials plan to bring more permitting departments onboard in an effort to expand the benefits gained by the new system.

“The more we can engage staff, applicants and residents in the system the more the system will improve,“ Smith said.